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Strikes-platform
Ideal world: No strikes! In an ideal world, in a dream world, in utopia, strikes would be a thing of the past. However in our real world, they occur. In Pennsylvania, they are known to happen more than elsewhere. Labor is a source of power in this region that can't be ignored. Same too with traditions. Teachers Strikes: Testing Times My father, now a retired Pittsburgh Public School teacher, experienced some interesting times as he and his peers were put into some strange positions in the past. Jay, a former swimmer is now a coach in Somerset, in a non-union role. In recent years those teachers have been at odds with the school board year in and year out. Students and families have trouble when schools are shut without notice and, perhaps, for weeks at a time. Disruption occurs. Real world and today's laws work okay. Some buffers have been made within the laws to dictate that effect of strikes so as to not knock a complete year off of the kids' lives. What is in place now seems prudent, but freedom is curtailed. Few hold teachers in a higher esteem, however, teacher contracts and strike options do not need to be handled in the same category as police and firefighters. Mellow's end to strikes legislation was without my support. Two past bills in the state Senate would have made school employee unions to go to binding arbitration if they and the school districts that pay them can't agree on a work contract. The author of the legislation, Sen. Robert Mellow, D-22 (Lackawanna), said it's a way to end strikes forever. But detractors say the bills would neuter the state's 501 school districts because teachers would have little incentive to bargain if they suspect they could get a better deal from an arbitration panel. Compelling teachers and school districts to accept binding arbitration would require amending the state Constitution. That lengthy process requires the House and Senate to pass Mellow's bills in two consecutive sessions - and it also demands voter approval. When the bills were introduced in the spring of 2004, they didn't make it out of committee and onto the Senate floor. Mellow's press secretary, Teresa Candori, said that had more to do with Republicans' concerns about the timing of the constitutional amendment process than with philosophical differences. * If elected (PA Senate), I would not have given support to the 'no-strike forever' legislation. * If elected, I would be quick to offer to assist with delicate situations among community, students, teachers / faculty, union leaders, administrators and trustees / board members. * Any bill that ends strikes forever is highly suspect as fantasy. * Any bill that ends strikes takes away from the workers' freedoms. Then we'd face blue-flu days, such as what might have happened with US Airways employees in Philly at Christmas in 2004. Workers and consumers and others with a serious point to make don't want to strike, but that option should not be taken off the table. * A picket might be a strong show that educates, draws attention to wrongs and helps resolve the situations for the better. Is an picket a strike too? Who decides? As part of this platform, whistle-blowers are respected. * The existing laws limit the amount of strike days per year and require advance notification are splendid. Links * Strikes category:Platform_Planks_from_Mark_Rauterkus category:freedom